As Florida gets ready for a showdown with Kentucky, with first place in the SEC on the line, a ghost from Florida’s past is set to return with it. And as much as Todd Golden and crew will try to downplay the significance of Denzel Aberdeen returning to Gainsville, one can be assured that Gator fans will not.
And as much as this return could have been a cordial and celebratory return, words have a way of resurfacing and making this showdown anything but that.
Denzel Aberdeen just needed a coach who believed in him
So let’s hit the rewind button to the national championship game and relive the final minute of Florida’s win. Before their final defensive stand, Aberdeen was on the floor shooting free throws to extend Florida’s lead to two.
Again, Abderdeen was on the floor during the final minute of the national title game in a one-point game.
When he transferred to Kentucky in the offseason, most Gator fans shrugged in annoyance but were willing to accept that the Wildcats opened their checkbook, and who are we to tell a player not to get paid?
But in a now-infamous interview, his father Ian Aberdeen couldn’t just leave it at that. He just had to drop a line that rubbed everyone the wrong way:
"He hasn't really shown what he can do. You could see spurts of it at Florida and even previously, but he wants a coach who believes in him."
Sigh.
There were a couple of other comments in the interview that were tone deaf and came across as completely unappreciative of Golden, who kept Aberdeen as a leftover from the Mike White Era and morphed him into a player who played 18 minutes a night for a national champion and was set for a larger role in 2025-26.
The irony of it all is that this year, Aberdeen feels like the missing piece for Florida to be a stone-cold lock to repeat as national champs, while Kentucky has been fighting for dear life this year. Abderdeen’s replacement, Xaivian Lee, has been up and down all season, while Kentucky is just trying to salvage this season before getting knocked out in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.
Tip off is at 3:00 PM, and while Florida fans can appreciate what Abderdeen did during the 2025 title run, he’s no longer a Gator in 2026.
And if you ain’t a Gator...